Month: March 2013

Do you have a problem with that flying elbow at the top of your backswing? Most people that make the transition from baseball to golf tend to let their right elbow (right handed players) get a little too wild at the top of their backswing. Why should you care? The flying right elbow, or “chicken winging” as my fellow teaching pros like to call it, causes the hands to move towards the ball at the top of the backswing and forces the club over plane. Take a look:

Brandon came to me with a baseball swing, and like many young athletes he was able to make decent contact because of his excellent hand eye coordination. His miss hits however, were pulls and slices caused by his flying right elbow (see image above). In order to make his swing and results more consistent, I had him use a couple of different drills that tightened up the swing and got the golf club more on plane.

Let me preface the next few paragraphs by saying, Brandon has made a lot of progress! His average scores dropped from the 110’s to the mid 80’s over about a 3 week period! THAT’S AMAZING! Now, keep in mind he is an athlete, he did play another sport where you hit a small ball with a small club, and he did practice four to five times a week. His swing is not great yet and we are working to get him to a point where he is completely satisfied with the results, but that being said his swing looks much better than it used to. Take a look at Brandon’s new swing:

Notice that in the second photo of Brandon his right elbow is much closer to his body, creating a flatter and longer swing plane. In this position, it is much easier for Brandon to rotate his hips and shoulders back to impact and hit the ball without making a “casting” (over the top) move. The hands drop on the down swing and power is created with the lower body and torso instead of the arms and hands.

Here’s the Golf Fix: We used a simple drill and some visualization to get Brandon into the position that you see in the second picture. First, take a head cover or a sock (you may want to use a clean one) and stick it under your right arm pit. As you take a backswing, make sure to keep the head cover/sock pinned between your arm and your side. If your head stays still, then your left shoulder should drop towards the ball and your right elbow should stay closer to the body. At the top of your backswing, pause and take a mental snapshot of your position. My PGA mentor told me once that you should be able to let a pizza box rest on your right hand at the top of your back swing. If you let your right elbow fly out during the backswing (like Brandon does in the first picture), then your right hand becomes vertical and the pizza box would drop to the ground. When I teach junior golfers, I use this analogy because it’s easier for them to visualize the position I’m trying to put them in.

As you make the down swing, let the hands drop towards your right hip and start rotating your shoulders and hips towards the target. This move will create club head lag and, if done properly, will force the club to make a slight “inside-out” path as you hit the ball. The sock that is stuck in your right armpit should stay there until just before you get to the impact position. At impact you should be extending your right arm, allowing the sock to drop out of your right armpit.

Do you want me to discuss a particular part of the golf swing? Comment on this post and let me know what you are interested in!

Ever wonder whether you are gripping the club correctly? Do your hands hurt when you swing?

Here’s the Golf Fix:

One of my favorite ways to demonstrate a good golf grip is to use a common household item: a ruler. If you feel like your grip is a little off, you can easily correct it by picking up a 12-inch ruler and holding it like you would a golf club. Use an interlock, overlap, or even a baseball style grip and align the ruler over your middle knuckles (below).

Wrap the palms and thumbs of your hands over the top of the ruler. Your left thumb should rest on the top right side of the ruler and your right thumb should rest comfortably on the top left side of the ruler (below). Now, grip the golf club with your normal grip pressure. If your hands hurt while gripping the ruler, it’s a pretty good indicator that you grip too tightly! A good way of thinking about grip pressure is to imagine you are holding a tube of toothpaste without the cap on it. If you grip the tube too tightly the toothpaste will squeeze out all over the place. If you grip too loose, the tube will go flying when you take a swing. Grip pressure and technique are the corner stones of a good swing. Harvey Pennick said, “unless you have a reasonably good grip and stance, anything you read about the golf swing is useless.”

If you have gripped the club correctly, the palm of your right hand should cover the thumb of your left hand. Test it!: grip the club the way that I just instructed you to. Take your right hand off of the grip. Now take your last three fingers on your left hand off of the grip as well, leaving only only the first finger on your left hand supporting the entire club. The bottom of your left palm should be resting on the top of the grip, acting like a fulcrum. This will allow your wrists to create the leverage necessary for you to bring the club to the top of the backswing.

Do you want me to discuss a particular part of the golf swing? Comment on this post and let me know what you are interested in!